Last night, I attended a debate between School of Faith theologian John-Mark Miravalle and Freedom from Religion Foundation co-president Dan Barker. The event was the kick-off to ReasonFest, a two-day festival of enlightening and challenging speakers hosted in Lawrence, KS by the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics.
The debate was well-attended, filling the Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. For those of you who are interested, the festivities continue today with discussions from Darrel Ray, James Underdown, Hemant Mehta, Tom Clark, and yes, Dan Barker.
Here are a few notable quotes from both participants in last night's debate.
John Mark Miravalle
"My hope is to dispel the idea, which seems to me is held by some believers in God and some who do not believe in God, that you have to make a choice between accepting God's existence or accepting the legitimacy of reason."
"I'm hopeful that those in attendance, both atheists and those who accept God's existence, will be in attendance because they are interested in following the evidence where it leads, and I think real good can be done presenting evidence with which people may not be familiar."
"None of this material is mine. I give all the credit to the Heavenly Father."(after the debate)
Dan Barker
"There is no purpose in life." (in his closing statement)
"The question is not whether religion is useful, it's whether it's true."
"Many false ideas can make people feel good. It can give them meaning and purpose. It can give them a sense of morality and cohesion and community, but that doesn't mean it's true."
"The desire to believe in a God, even though it may not be true, is cowardly. It takes more courage to face the facts, no matter how they make us feel."
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